The Switch
by Eyes of the infinite galaxy
Summary: ... It was just a little accident. A minor clash of the two most polar energies in Symphonia. Just a bit of a switch. Nothing MAjOr...
1. Chapter 1

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* * *

Me: Okay um… I really don't want to give the plot away… it's a really nice surprise… **

**Damien: Disclaimer, now.**

**Me: Now? Already? But I didn't get to say my dramatic speech!**

**Damien: Okay, give me a vote, people, who wants to hear Lue's dramatic speech?**

**-Cricket chirps-**

**Me: Shut up, cricket!**

**Cricket: The name's Van!**

**Me: What'd he say? I can't hear him…**

**Damien: For Symphonia's sake! Someone say the disclaimer!**

**Cricket: Eyes of the Infinite Galaxy (aka Lue) does not own Tales of Symphonia or anything in it.**

**Damien: Thank you Crickie, now, to the story.**

**Me: What? What'd the cricket say?**

**Cricket: The name's _Van_!**

**Damien: Van? What kind of name is that?**

**Me: What? Who are you taking to?**

**Cricket: Get some hearing aids, human!**

**Me: … (Looks at Damien) Did you say something?**

**Damien: Pull down the curtains Crickie and start the story!**

**Cricket: It's VAN!**

**Damien: Your name is _CRICKIE!_**

**Me: No, it's Lue!**

* * *

"DEMON FANG!" Lloyd exclaimed, releasing a wave of mana in a well-practiced technique. Unfortunately, that wasn't the point of the exercise. Lloyd could perform the tech quite well. It was his aim that he was supposed to be working on.

For the hundredth time that day, he missed, by quite a bit. At the edge of the clearing, Kratos sighed and moved toward his student.

"When attacking, focus more on your target than your mana. It is of no consequence with what attack you strike, as long as it does not require a large amount of mana. Accuracy is your goal," Kratos murmured, repositioning Lloyd's sword and then stepping back to check the stance. Shaking his head, he stepped forward once more, altering the stance again to his liking.

"Ugh! This is so frustrating!" Lloyd growled, whipping sweat off his brow with a sleeve. Kratos only sighed.

"Learning is normally frustrating, especially with the sword; it isn't something that you master in one session," Kratos calmly stated, shifting Lloyd's shoulders. The twin swordsman's expression only grew more impatient.

"I know that! But it shouldn't take an entire day just to learn how to target enemies! I should know this by now!" Lloyd exclaimed in dismay.

His teacher sighed. "Very well, show me your attack," he commanded, stepping back and shifting into a ready position.

Lloyd, being Lloyd, threw everything he had into the attack, gathered all the mana he could muster, silently praying for accuracy. (It wasn't what he had been told, but Lloyd believed in going all out… even if the situation didn't fit at all…)

_No more mistakes…_ he prayed.

"Demon-" Lloyd called out, releasing all the gathered mana, "THRUST!"

Kratos's eyes widened in disbelief, as he felt the attack heading toward him. _Demon Thrust? _That wasn't part of Lloyd's usual set; how in the world did he know something like that anyway? _How am I supposed to deflect that? Guardian spells… not a chance… nothing in the Defenses… angelic attacks… risky but all I have…_

"Holy Blade!" Kratos countered, gathering holy power in his blade and blocking with a strike of his own, barely in time. The blades clashed and the opposite manas collided, creating a blinding flash. Bright electricity shot through both blades and ran through the opposing wielders. A deafening electric crackle flew through the air as dust and earth shifted and twirled around them. Pain shot through the pair's hands and arms as their yells sounded through the roaring air.

Lloyd felt darkness creeping in from the corners of his vision, as did Kratos. Kratos lost the grip of his sword and barely heard it and Lloyd's blades clatter to the ground. Both fell unconscious, the energy of the strikes slowly dispersing.

* * *

Kratos awoke to find the sky dark and the soil wet. Had he slept through _rain? _For exactly how long? Suddenly, the events of that morning ran through his mind. 

_Demon Thrust and Holy Blade? And an electric explosion as the result? _The seraph searched his mind for an explanation. While he didn't recognize the technique Lloyd had used (the boy had probably named it himself, Kratos thought, frowning a little), the mana pattern had been unmistakable. It had been a demonic technique, something only the Underworld's inhabitants would use.

And Holy Blade was a minor, obscure angelic technique that simply charged a weapon with holy energy, allowing the wielder to use it to accentuate their attack…

So… because the techniques were opposite, but apparently equal in strength, they had somehow reacted to each other, knocking both him and Lloyd unconscious… But there was something wrong with the situation.

Kratos slowly looked down at himself, searching for injuries. But what he saw made him draw a hissed breath. In disbelief, his ran to a puddle of rain water and examined his reflection. He blinked and shook his head angrily, gazing into the puddle again. No difference.

Turning around, Kratos reluctantly faced the figure that lay nearby, next to the spot where he had woken… An unconscious man in purple, with auburn hair… himself.

"We switched bodies?" the seraph murmured in disbelief, finding himself dressed head to toe in red and twin scarabs at his sides.

"Lloyd!" Kratos dashed to his body's side and shook him violently. "Lloyd!" The body groaned, slitting its eyes open to peer peevishly at him. But suddenly, the eyes widened.

"AH!" Lloyd screamed in Kratos's deep tone. "I have a clone! I have a CLONE!"

Kratos couldn't help but notice how strange it sounded to hear his own voice… yelling at him.

Lloyd jumped to his feet and started backing away. "W-who are you? And what happened to my voice?!"

Kratos sighed, finally hearing the difference in his (Lloyd's) voice. "Calm down, Lloyd. I'm Kratos."

"What? How can you say you're Kratos when you look exactly like me? And seriously… I think I'm loosing my voice…"

"Hmph, I may not look like myself, but you honestly do not look like Lloyd either," Kratos replied evenly, ignoring side comments.

"What are you talk-" Lloyd looked briefly into another puddle and jumped. "HOLY MARTEL! I'M KRATOS!"

"No, you are not; you are simply in my body… as I am in yours," Kratos replied, his patience beginning to wear thin. There was something truly annoying about watching Lloyd act like Lloyd in his body. "And please stop shouting like that... we both have a reputation we don't want destroyed."

"Kratos?" Lloyd questioned the "clone" in front of him.

"… I thought we had already established that…"

"How- What- Since when-…" Lloyd strutted, completely confused.

"Your demonic attack collided with my angelic attack… that could have been very dangerous, we were lucky to have survived…"

"Hey! You were the one who said, 'Focus on your target; it doesn't matter what attack you strike with,'" Lloyd pointed out in a bad imitation of what Kratos had said. Even if he looked and sounded like the mercenary, he was still clearly not…

"I had no idea you had the ability to use demonic attacks. Demon Fang is a normal technique, used by humans, despite its name. What you did could have killed you had I not found the opposite attack to even it out!" Kratos replied angrily. A confused expression washed over Lloyd's face. He had almost never seen his father angry, though the impact was somewhat lessened since Kratos wasn't even in his own body.

"Where did you learn something like that?" Kratos asked, taking a deep breath and regaining a little of his composure.

"I… don't know…" Lloyd replied automatically. "I just… thought it could use some more mana…"

Kratos gave him an almost disbelieving look. _How stupid are you to try magnifying an attack?_ it said.

"… never mind, we need to find a solution to this…" the seraph muttered, covering his eyes with one hand in an unconscious gesture.

"There's no time for that! Dad -I mean- your dad is going to kill me -I mean you- if I'm not home by… wait… he isn't going to kill me… he's going to kill you! Ha! I'm starting to like this all ready!" Lloyd chirped happily in Kratos' dark voice, smirking widely.

"That voice does not fit your choice of words…" Kratos grumbled, eyeing the teen wearily.

"I could say the same!" Lloyd laughed in Kratos's voice.

"I'm going to hate this…" Kratos muttered.

"Oh yah… and… um… you can't really tell anyone you're you, okay?" Lloyd questioned uneasily.

"And why is that?"

"Well… who would believe you? Genis'll think I drank again… and Dad wi-"

"Again? You consumed alcohol before?" Kratos growled, his expression frightening even on Lloyd's face.

"Eh-hehe…" Lloyd laughed nervously. "Well, I think it's true for both of us… I mean, if I went up to Professor Sage and said, 'I just switched bodies with Kratos and now I'm four thousand years old and have angel wings,' she'd probably think I- or more like you- were… ah… you know…"

"I can't say I agree with this-"

"Great! Now you might want to head over to Dad's… I have a curfew and um… it isn't very pretty when I break it…"

"What do you mean?"

"Um… better if you find out yourself…" Lloyd muttered, picking up the mercenary's long sword.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Kratos questioned after him.

"To try out the new mana boost!" Lloyd called back, walking away.

"Don't you dare! You don't know what that mana is capable of!" Kratos barked.

"That's why I'm gonna find out! See ya!" Lloyd yelled, disappearing into the Iselia forest.

"This cannot end well…" Kratos muttered, giving in, gathering Lloyd's weapons and heading towards Dirk's house. "What exactly did Lloyd mean by 'punishment'? Breaking a curfew… it can't be that bad…"

* * *

**Me: Or can it?**

**Damien: Uh-oh… what are you going to do to Kratos?**

**Me: (Smirks) **

**Damien: It doesn't look good…**

**Me: (Smirk Smirk Smirk Smirk)**

**Damien: Forget the good! It looks terrible!**

**Me: Actually… I don't know what I'm going to do to Kratos… **

**Damien: Look. I know you're an amature and all but... you aren't supposed to write things like that. Bad points on the public interest area.**

**Me: ... really? How about something along the lines of 'If Kratos is lucky his life span will range between two to three sentences! Mwhahaha?'**

**Damien: um… 'MHAHAHAHA'?... highly clichéd. **

**Me: Whatever! It gets the point across. **

**Cricket: -cricket-**

**Me: And you shut up!**

**Damien: Don't you dare touch crickie!**

**Me: Crickie? You named it Crickie?**

**Damien: …**

**Cricket: It's VAN!! V-A-N!!**

**Me: Damien, you really outta stop mumbling, I can't hear a word you're saying.**

* * *

Next Chapter: A Curfew... How Bad Can It Be?

* * *


	2. Laps

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Me: Well, chapter two, _take_ _it_ _away,_ Crikie!**

**Cricket:…?**

**Me: I said _take_ _it_ _away_!**

**Cricket?**

**Damien: Ah-hum… you're supposed to say the disclaimer and start the story.**

**Cricket: Ah, Eyes of the Infinite Galaxy does not own Tales of Symphonia, any of it's plot characters or music, and is simply wasting her talents on things that are absolutely useless towards her college application.**

**Damien: What talents?**

**Me: Is it me or did you hear something? **

**Damien: Like she said, take it away, Crikie.**

**Cricket: It's Van… Van… is that so hard? -Rolls story-

* * *

**

Kratos' View

* * *

Kratos traced Lloyd's footprints back to Dirk's house, as he had not fully memorized exactly where in the woods Lloyd's home was. Stepping over leaves and grass, the seraph found the woods incredibly peaceful: The light cooing of an owl, the gentle breeze of the warm summer. Pleasant and simple… if only life was always like that…

Finding a dim light through several pines, he picked up his pace and looked up from Lloyd's footprints. Kratos entered the clearing of Dirk's front yard and quietly walked over the entrance bridge. Pausing in front of the main door, he glanced at Noishe's stall. Empty.

_That's strange…_

Entering the dimly-lit house, Kratos noticed a hazy, grey figure in the work room. Kratos picked up a small noise, something like a sigh.

"Decided to come back late again, did yah?" The shadow asked, setting down the piece of metalwork he had been working on with a light "clang" and exiting the dark room. Light poured over the grey figure, revealing a short, brawny dwarf: Dirk.

_Think Lloyd, Kratos, think Lloyd…_

"Uh… yah…" Kratos stated "nervously", displaying quite a believable imitation of Lloyd and even adding his signature "arm-behind-head-rubbing-nervously-against-neck" pose to gain extra credit.

"_Two _owas (hours) late?"

"Heh…" Kratos laughed credibly, trying to sell his act.

"Any explanation at al'?" Dirk grumbled, giving Kratos the feeling that this had happened many times before.

"…um…I was walking an-" Kratos did his best at lying poorly.

"Don'tcha evan think about lyin'," Dirk muttered, sensing the fake hesitation.

"…okay… I… did _it_ again…" Kratos confessed fakely, noting that this had happened before and by putting a pronoun in the place of whatever happened, Dirk would have no suspicions.

"Sigh al' right," Dirk bought the false confession, "That's tweny (twenty) laps, best get movin'. Noishe's right behind ya."

"Huh? What about Noi-," Kratos heard an unfamiliar growl from behind him and turned around to see Noishe baring his teeth at him in a surprisingly playful manner, "…Noishe?"

"BARK BARK!" Noishe… barked. Narrowly missing Kratos as he tried to pounce on him. Kratos shot down the hallway and to the backdoor as a rampaging Noishe flew after him. Nearly breaking down the door, Kratos, trying to remain Lloyd-like, tried ordering commands at his protozoan in English rather than the angelic language the pet responded to.

"Noishe! Halt!"

Noishe ignored his commands that were slowly turning into pleads as he continued racing after Kratos with quite some speed. The following few minutes consisted of Kratos running around the fairly large backyard of the house nearly eight times in five minutes.

"ARIS! TENARAS DOMOS! HALT!!!" Kratos surrendered to the temptation of using the angelic language. Noishe skidded to a halt and nearly flipped over. _Since when did Lloyd speak the ancient languages?_ The protozoan pondered. Kratos retreated to a kneeling position on the floor breathing heavily.

"Arisme… Kratos… seraphim se Cruxis, triant se Kharlan War, mais le!" Kratos rasped, getting to his feet. Noishe's eyes widened.

"Don't try telepathy, I can't hear you. I'm no longer an angel," The swordsman added.

Noishe gazed at him quizzically as Kratos simply sighed.

"It's a long story… just note that- what are you doing?" Kratos noticed Noishe edging toward him as a predator would do to its prey. Kratos began backing up unconsciously as Noishe continued to get closer. The protozoan broke into a sprint with a toothy smile on his face as Kratos whirled around and continued running.

"Arisme! Arisme!!!"

Noise seemed to laugh at Kratos' statements and barked in reply.

"You think this is funny do you? That I'm playing some sort of game?" Kratos rasped, sprinting at full speed.

"Bark!"

Kratos passed the backdoor for the eighteenth time in nine minutes.

_Three more…_

"Lloyd can't even learn vocabulary in English! How can you assume that he simply learned the angelic language in a night?"

_Two more…_

"Bark! Bark!"

"Noishe! If you truly are a protozoan, I would have expected you to know who I am by now! Why won't you listen???"

_One more…just one more…_

Kratos raced around his final lap, a green and white blur chasing after him equally as fast. The seraph skidded to the end of his last lap before the main door and collapsed next to it, panting. After a good minute, his breathing evened and he returned to his standing position.

_Where's Noishe? _Kratos questioned, scanning the abandoned area and finding it unoccupied. It was then when Kratos noticed some markings on the ground- letters actually.

_It's not everyday I get to chase my master around as prey…I dare not miss this opportunity,_ it said in angelic print.

"He knew I was Kratos?" The angel whispered, "Noishe… one day I swear, you will be lying next to Kvar."

"Inside Lloyd! It's past midnight and ya've (you've) got school tammara (tomorrow)," Dirk beckoned from the work room.

_School? I don't want to go to senor high again…_

"Yes…Dad?" Kratos questioned, finding it quite odd to be calling a dwarf his father. Kratos walked in through the back door a hustled up the stairs, finding Lloyd's room to his right. He opened the hand-made wooden door and entered the room, finding the basic necessities for a room: a bed, a desk, and exit.

Not finding the bed or desk very interesting, the angel headed for the exit and opened its door, revealing a small but high balcony that looked over their front yard.

_Hmph. Peace… then chaos… then peace again…_

"To bed, Lloyd!" Dirk called from down stairs.

_And then, of course, chaos again…_Kratos sighed, reentering the room and nearing the bed.

_Sleep… I guess I can sleep now that I'm human… but I doubt nightmares are any better than no sleep at all…_ But then noting that the room was fairly plain a contained no form of entertainment, Kratos reconsidered, _nightmares it is then…_

Not even bothering to get under the covers, Kratos lay back onto the bed and tried to remember exactly _how _to fall asleep. Spending about thirty minutes trying to lose consciousness, Kratos finally drifted of into a shallow but surprisingly pleasant sleep.

Lloyd's View

…_I guess I'll start out with a small demon fang…_Lloyd thought.

He slipped the sword at his side out of its scabbard with ease and found it incredibly simple to wield. Placing the broad sword further back to draw additional thrust, he gathered his mana in preparation.

"Demon Fang!" Lloyd stated effortlessly, noticing how smooth the attack had been.

"_These attacks are effortless, Kratos, why do you practice these?"_

"Who said that?!" Lloyd questioned nervously into his surroundings, trying to locate the voice, "I-I mean… who is there?" Lloyd added, failing miserably to act like Kratos.

Noishe walked in slowly from behind some trees in front of him, towards Lloyd and stopped directly in front of Lloyd.

"H-" Lloyd was about to say 'hi' but realized that it wasn't really in Kratos' normal vocabulary, _um… hello? No… uh… maybe I'll just say his name… who am I kidding? Noishe is a dog … he can't tell anyone… _Lloyd mused.

"_Think again," _the voice said again. Lloyd noticed it was coming from Noishe.

"Noishe? Are you… talking?!"

Noishe's eyes narrowed dangerously as he confirmed his predictions with the fact that Kratos should have known he could talk after four thousand years of discussions… if Kratos wasn't in his body, then obviously someone else must be in his. Letting out a growl, Noishe pounced on Lloyd which such speed that he was barley visible.

"_What have you done with my master, elf?! Tell me who you are and what you have done or I swear I rip your head off!" _Noishe growled angrily, his normal clam eyes, infuriating with rage.

"N-Noishe! I-it's me! Lloyd!" Lloyd rasped under Noishe's pressure.

"_Lloyd?!" _Noishe questioned in astonishment, backing off Kratos' body instantaneously, _"I… I am so sorry… I thought…"_

"It's fine…" Lloyd stated indifferently as if nothing had happened and stood up.

"_You are definitely Lloyd…"_ Noishe muttered without opening his mouth, noticing the lack of care he had put in his response.

"How… are you…?" Lloyd questioned, hearing the words but not seeing the protozoan's mouth move.

"_Telepathy, protozoans and angels can use and hear telepathy,"_ Noishe explained, _"It is how I communicate with the master."_

"The… master?" Lloyd asked.

"_Your… father…"_Noishe stated in a strange tone, looking at Lloyd distantly.

"Hm? Something wrong?" Lloyd asked obliviously.

"_I never thought… I would be talking to Master about his father…"_Noishe muttered.

"I'm not Kratos, you aren't speaking to him about his father…" Lloyd stated blankly.

"_Yes, but still, even talking to his body about his father is…" _Noishe drifted off.

"Strange? What's so strange about Kratos' father?" Lloyd asked again.

"_He has never told you anything, has he?" _Noishe asked, with an uncharacteristic roll of his eyes.

"If it took him fifteen years to tell me I was his son, you could expect that he hasn't said much," Lloyd pointed out.

"_Well, I suppose it's better that way…"_Noishe muttered distantly.

"Would you two stop talking in riddles?! I don't need two Remiels playing with my head!"

"_Kratos has had a harsh past. That is all the explanation you are getting."_

"_Phh, yah Noishe, that explains a lot." _"Whoah! How'd I do that??" Lloyd asked, realizing he had just used Noishe's "telepathy".

"_God Lloyd, have you listened at all? You can use telepathy now that you are an angel."_

"_Oh yah… right… hey I did it again!"_

"_Sigh…this is going to be a nuisance…"Noishe muttered to himself._

"What in the world happened to make both you and Kratos like this? You aren't as bad as Kratos but… why are you so negative?"

"_Lloyd…"_ Noishe muttered mentally, seeing that the swordsman had no clue about what he was talking about.

"Oh… shoot…" Lloyd cursed mildly.

"_What is it?"_ Noishe questioned.

"Kratos has school tomorrow…"

"_You mean today,"_ Noishe corrected, gazing over to the lighting horizon.

"Huh? Why today?" Lloyd asked cluelessly, dimly ignoring Noishe's stare directed upon the horizon.

"_It's almost dawn…"_ The protozoan muttered, glancing back to his friend.

"WHAT? I didn't even get to sleep!"

'_Suddenly, I feel like Raine…' _Noishe thought to himself, "_I'll take my leave, Lloyd. My overall advice to you is to simply lay low and stay out of trouble. I doubt you'll do anything similar to that, but then again, you're full of surprises. Good Luck." _With that dismissal, Noishe trotted down the path he had come from and soon disappeared into the forest's scenery.

"Well… I can tell that's Kratos' protozoan..." Lloyd mumbled under his breath.

* * *

**Me: Um… yah… telepathy…**

**Damien: For once in my life, I'm kinda okay with what you did with Noishe, it's just too bad you took away the cute little dog we thought we knew and replaced him with another Kratos though…**

**Me: Actually… since Noishe hasn't yet transformed into a human, hehhehhehhehheh… we've got a half stoic Kratos-like protozoan and a half playful, kibble-loving doggie in one! … it's kinda funny watching the serious protozoan go back I and forth through his two personalities…**

**Damien: You were made to be a master criminal…**

**Me: What's that supposed to mean?**

**Damien: Even when righting a 'happy' story, you always find an evil way to twist things…**

**Me: Oh come on! Making Noishe part doggie and part protozoan isn't evil!**

**Damien: Try saying that to Noishe.**

**Cricket: What are you? Mad? If you tell that to Noishe he'll bite your-**

**Damien (Covers Crikie's mouth with hand): That's the whole point, Crikie.**

**Me: Huh? What'd he say?**

**Damien: To tell Noishe that he is a cute, little doggie.**

**Me: Okay! I'll be right on it! C U guys!

* * *

**

Chapter three: Wet in the Mornings

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	3. Wet on Friday Mornings

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* * *

Me: Hello people! Sorry it's been so long… had to recover from a massive dog bite… **

**Damien: Or rather. Protozoan bite! (Snickers) **

**Me: Why is it so funny when I get hurt? Yesterday I crushed a cricket and you started crying, so you probably don't like pain…**

**Damien: You crushed a cricket?**

**Me: Yup. Don't you remember? You broke down in tears and started yelling "WHY CRICKIE?! WHY????" to the heavens. I still don't get what you meant…**

**Damien: YOU KILLED CRICKIE?!**

**Me: You don't rememb- oh… I wasn't supposed to tell you that…**

**Damien: WHAT?! FOR HOW LONG HAS CRICKIE BEEN DEAD?? HOW COULD I FORGET HIS DEATH???**

**Me: Ummm… I'm the author… with a little pen and paper I can make you do or forget anything…**

**Damien: WHY?! WHY HAVE YOU LEFT ME WITH CYCOTIC WOMEN CRICKIE??? W-Wh-HA-HY?????**

**Me: Um… I'll start the show before I go deaf…**

* * *

Wet on Friday Mornings

* * *

"LLOYD! GET UP!!" 

It was dark at first, something quite unfamiliar to Kratos. The seraph tried to wake up, but found it much harder than he had imagined and, despite his efforts, wouldn't budge; neither did his eyes for that matter.

Suddenly, a wall of presumably wood, considering the house was composed entirely out of it, slammed against his face and body, stimulating his consciousness.

Finally, his body responded to his commands and he opened his eyes. Brown. All brown. Kratos shook his head and stood up, realizing the brown was indeed wood and that he had fallen of the bed, hitting the floor, which explained what the wall had been. Clutching his head that had fallen onto the floor Kratos also noticed Genis standing next to him.

"Heh, that's funny, this time I didn't even have to get the water…" Genis muttered, gazing into a pail of water he had fetched from the kitchen that he would have used to wake Kratos. Kratos suddenly realized why Lloyd was always wet in the morning.

"Since when are you such a light sleeper?" He questioned, looking up to Kratos.

"Light sleeper? You yelled at the top of your lungs in my ear…"

"Well, you normally sleep through that… usually I have to get you wet…gee Lloyd, you okay?"

"Yes, I am fine," Kratos stated indifferently, forgetting that he was supposed to be acting like Lloyd.

"With a tone like that anyone can tell you aren't well. Did you get enough sleep?"

_Four hours of it! Why am I so tired? _Kratos thought to himself. **(A/N:The guy hasn't slept in a while, people, he doesn't remember how long you've gotta sleep)**

"Yah, I think I overslept…" Kratos stated, creating a good imitation of Lloyd.

"Then what are you waiting for?! Class starts now and we've got to walk all the way through the forest! Come on, get your bag!" Genis exclaimed with a sudden raise in his voice.

Kratos scanned his surroundings quickly for some sort of "bag". Suddenly a light brown bag flew into his face and Genis was out the door. Barely dodging the bag, Kratos seized the leather satchel in midair and jogged down stairs. Dirk was in the metal room and called goodbye. A light bang interrupted this and Kratos followed it to the open entrance. Genis stood outside, waiting impatiently.

"Finally! Let's go!"

Kratos followed after Genis and finally caught up to him.

"Lloyd really, you need to get Noishe or Dirk to wake you up a bit earlier… Raine isn't too fond of tardies, you know that," Genis lectured as they continued into the forest.

"Well then let's make sure she doesn't get any," Kratos stated.

"I know you're thinking about racing but even if you were to beat _me, _you'd still be late," Genis explained blankly.

"What makes you say that?" Kratos questioned without thinking.

"All right, I'll prove it to you. Let's get running," Genis said, running at full speed and ahead of Kratos. The seraph recalled the angelic technique for acceleration, Kratos burst out at a sprint, and fell in step with Genis.

"Someone's finally sucked up his pride and asked Kratos for some techniques, huh?" Genis questioned Kratos with a smirk.

_What are you talking about, Genis?_

"What do you mean?" Kratos asked, continuing to imitate Lloyd.

"Don't start the act again. Just give it up. It's WAY to obvious that you are jealous of him!" Genis said with exasperation.

"I am not?" Kratos questioned, trying to remain Lloyd-like but also finding it hard to add expression to a statement like that.

"If I gave him a stick for a sword, he'd beat you. And you're the eternal swardsman!" Genis laughed, hoping to get an angry response shot back at him. It was always fun getting Lloyd mad… cruel… but fun.

"Sure, but he's had at least 200 times the experience I've had," Kratos pointed out. _I really need to stop with the math..._

"Come on, Lloyd. You're supposed to be angry by now," Genis said flatly as his eyebrows aligned in a strait line and displayed a boredom that was nearly incomprehensible, "Good. We're here."

Kratos turned his head from his companion and located the city entrance about ten paces away. Genis immediately sprinted to a proximate sun-dial, as they did not have clocks, and cursed mildly.

"We're ten minutes late! Come on!" Genis griped as Kratos walked up to him.

The two hurried to Raine's classroom, located on the opposite side of the small village. Genis carefully opened the door, trying not to make sound and entered, Kratos following shortly afterwards. The class was nearly full with the exception of two seats and Kratos and Genis found all the eyes of the both bored and fascinated (mostly bored) students directed upon them.

"Genis! Lloyd! Where have you been?" Raine exclaimed from the center-front of the classroom, her expression cross. Kratos saw the situation and immediately intervened before Genis tried to fabricate an excuse.

"Please accept our apologies, professor, we encountered some difficulties in the forest," Kratos stated, trying without much effort to gain Raine's mercy by using as much formal language as possible.

Raine sighed in defeat and decided they could go without punishment, after all, Lloyd would be staying for detention after school to complete a month's work of homework he had missed. That was punishment enough.

"Very well. Please take a seat," Raine muttered, gesturing to the open seats. The two did as they were told and Raine continued.

"We have a test today, as you all know. I presume you would like to review before taking it?" The teacher asked. A unanimous nod confirmed Raine's assumption.

"Okay then. I will not review our entire chapter, but I will review the Vari-mana era; it appears to be the most confusing subject…"

The professor reviewed the material in a brief ten minutes, which was enough to get Kratos beyond bored of listening to historical events that had actually happened during his time. So, the seraph found himself counting the white ceiling boards that composed the lower roof.

Raine noticed Lloyd's usual lack of attention and regained it with a question.

"Lloyd, please explain to the class what caused the mana flood of 1468," Raine stated, preparing herself for a wrong answer. Kratos unconsciously responded with the correct answer.

"The galactic wind currents, caused by the summon spirit Sylph, went out of control during 1457 to 1468 W.E. (Wind Era) due to the new division of the world, which was caused by 'the hero' Mithos. These currents disrupted the Great Seed's usual mana distribution and Tethe'alla was deluged in an immense flood of mana while Sylvarant suffered tremendously. Three angels of Cruxis, however, had formed a pact with Sylph and evened out the destructive currents," Kratos stated, recalling when he, Mithos and Yuan had done just that, still somewhat in a trance of memories.

Raines eyes widened, not expecting such a correct and complete answer from Lloyd. Raine questioned Kratos further, trying to discover if Lloyd had actually studied.

"How about the Energy Concentration of 1567?" She asked, her eyes gleaming animatedly with hope that Lloyd was actually learning.

"That event is usually assumed a myth, but there is plenty of evidence that supports it. Circa 1560, several villagers from the city of Dayis, presently known as Triet, provoked the Summon Spirit Efreet. Blinded by anger, Efreet cast a large fire spell upon the city of Dayis, consuming it in flame. The spell is presumed to be a magnified version of the combination of Fire Ball and Eruption, 'Flaming Rage' is what Efreet called it. However, an anonymous mercenary saw the fire, and entered the flaming town, gathering whatever survivors he could find and leading them to safety using a defense technique similar to Guardian. Soon the fire burned down all it could and extinguished. The survivors then rebuilt the city, renaming it Triet, the city of Miracles, referring to the mercenary that had saved them. The mercenary soon disappeared after that, and was never seen again until the Division Acts in 2674," Kratos lectured, recalling when he had saved the survivors.

Whispering broke out between the students as Genis stared at his friend gaping.

Kratos suddenly realized he was still in the classroom and what he had just said. _Hopefully Lloyd's a good student... _Kratos thought. The professor's unbelieving expression disappeared as she looked down to the stack of tests on her desk. Before the class could get into further debate, Raine interrupted.

"Silence, please. That is enough of review. I shall now pass out the tests; once the first test is down, anyone who is talking will get a zero," The professor stated, shuffling through the papers of her desk and pulling out a stack of tests.

She passed out a small stack to each row of desks and the shuffling of papers between the students marked the beginning of the long test.

"Begin," the professor stated as the soft noise of pencils brushing against paper filled the room.

* * *

Lloyd decided to go and speak with Noishe. It would be a good time to learn more about his father's past, despite the unhelpful comments that had been given to him the first time. 

_What was so terrible about his childhood?_

_Why did Noishe and Kratos act so negatively?_

_And why exactly did Kratos hate tomatoes so much?_

_I know Kratos won't answer these… but with the right motivation, Noishe will,_ Lloyd thought, jingling the bag of diced beast hide he had received from an encounter on his way to Dirk's.

"Hey, Noishe," Lloyd called entering his backyard.

"_Yes, Lloyd?" _Noishe questioned from his stall. Lloyd walked over to him and stood by the gate of his lair.

"Gee… don't you get bored in there all day long?" Lloyd asked.

"_Why is that the first time you've asked me that in fourteen years_?"

"Heh… I guess I never realized how smart you really were… I never knew… there was such a difference between protozoans and dogs…"

"_There is a large one. Dogs or wolves are one form of protozoan. Protozoans change over thousands of years… from fish to human and further… dogs being one of the many forms we can take." _

"I think I just got more confused…" Lloyd muttered.

"_Heh… I never thought I could get the master confused," _Noishe smirked, seemingly very proud of his actions.

"For the last time, I'm not Kratos," Lloyd sighed.

"_Ah, but it would be a waste not to count this occurrence… after all it's been four-thousand years since I have out-smarted the master," _Noishe pointed out, "_I really miss doing that..."_

"Four-thousand years?!"

"_Yes… he has one hell of a brilliant mind…_"

"Damn…"

"_What? you are jealous of that too?_"

"I-I am not!" Lloyd stuttered, blushing.

"_It is written all over your face, precious,"_ Noishe laughed.

"Grrrr…" Lloyd growled, his face darkening.

"_Hah, now you are speaking my language_," Noishe smirked.

"Ugh! I am not jealous of Kratos! It's just he's taking my place in school, if he gets anything over a 'C' Raine will get suspicious!" Lloyd explained.

"_Ah, yes, of course. The professor will notice such a dramatic change in your grades… but unless you have a test today, the master can probably handle it._"

"Noishe… I did have a test today…" Lloyd said in a flat tone.

"_Hmm, well I don't see how an A+ can hurt your grade… and after all, the master could say he simply studied,"_ reasoned Noishe

"An A+?! Don't tell me Kratos gets A+'s!"

"…_He's four-thousand years old… he should get all A+'s by now…"_

"Great! This is just great! Raine's going to look at me as though I am a unpredicatable mental genius/idiot/madperson for the rest of my life all because of Kratos!"

"_If it makes you feel any better, she already looks at you as if you were a idiot, what's a little mental, maddness, and insane genius added on to that?" _

"Oh yeah, I feel terrific now!"

"_Heh…even in the master's body, you still make me laugh…"_

Lloyd exhaled heavily.

"Noishe… I came to ask you about Dad," Lloyd stated, lowering his head.

"_Dirk?"_ Noishe asked.

"No,"

"_The master then?"_

"No, not Dirk, not Kratos, my real father. the one who _actually smiled _when someone said a joke," Lloyd stated in a sad expression, shooting a sidelong glance away from Noishe.

"_I do not wish to burden you with his memories; they aren't of any use, and... were the destruction of who he used to be... they were really...painful..."_

"Kratos seems to tolerate them..." Lloyd raised his voice in frustration.

"_Nothing of your concern, Lloyd... listen here and don't ask any more questions. They will not benefit you," _Noishe growled back.

"You don't know... You don't know what you are holding back from me... You don't know how it feels to be deprived of what you want! Niether of you do!"

"Hah! Kratos doesn't know how it feels to be deprived of what he wants! It's a joke isn't it?"

"I keep telling you. I don't know anything about your pasts. How am I supposed to make jokes out of them without even knowing what they are? You've got to tell me, Noishe."

"_I couldn't possibly tell you for you to understand… you'd have to experience it…_"

"Then let me experience it!"

"_Get out of here, Lloyd. Ask your father if you really must know. I am not going to get involved with this,"_

"Not even if I give you-"

"_Nope. Already have it," _Noishe stated, pulling out the sack of beast hide out from behind him and waving it gently in his teeth.

"Dang… why can't you just be a normal, dumb dog?" Lloyd pouted.

"_And why can't you simply be happy with what you have?"_ Noishe replied, placing the sack safely inside his stall.

"Fine! Do what you want! I just thought you might show me half of the respect you show Kratos, but apparently even that's too much!" Lloyd fumed, walking away loudly.

"_Lloyd… I'm sorry... you really should have access to things like this but... I really, really, really don't want you turning out like the master... or even worse... hating the master after you realize exactly what happened on that day..."_

* * *

**Me: dang… I wanted to add some doggie fun in there… guess it was just too serious…**

**Damien: Crikie… we will always remember you… **

**Readers: Amen.**

**Me: You're having a funeral for—**

**Cricket: Me?**

**Damien: Crickie? Crickie!! You're alive!**

**Cricket: …yes…**

**Me: Dang… he came back again…**

**Cricket: I'm sorry for being late. My uncle just got stomped on by a shoe… had to go to his funeral…**

**Me: COUGH COF COF…**

**Damien: You crushed his uncle?!**

**Me: Huh? W-what uncle? Hehe…**

**Damien: ...**

**Cricket: ...**

**Me: ...**

**Damien: ...**

**Cricket: ...**

**Me: ...What's with the silence...?**

**Damien: You're a terrible liar, you know that?**

**Cricket(tears welling up in humoungous, adorable, anime eyes): Uncle Bill... I'm so sorry Uncle Bill... (Sobsob)**

* * *

Next Chapter: Through Your Eyes

* * *


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